New Vatican Instructions on Cremation

The instruction reiterates the long-held view that the Church is not opposed to the practice of cremation, though she continues to recommend burial in cemeteries or other sacred places.

However, the new document insists that ashes should not be kept in private houses, and also states that: "It is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects. These courses of action cannot be legitimized by an appeal to the sanitary, social, or economic motives that may have occasioned the choice of cremation."

The Church cannot "condone attitudes or permit rites that involve erroneous ideas about death, such as considering death as the definitive annihilation of the person, or the moment of fusion with Mother Nature or the universe, or as a stage in the cycle of regeneration, or as the definitive liberation from the 'prison' of the body."

The Vatican also stressed that "the Church continues to prefer the practice of burying the bodies of the deceased, because this shows a greater esteem towards the deceased."

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